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Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis on Friday held talks on the
progress of negotiations to solve the Cyprus problem and their
prospects in 2009 during a meeting with the UN Secretary-General's
special envoy for the Cyprus issue Alexander Downer, who arrived in
Athens after visiting Ankara.

The minister underlined during the meeting that Greece and Cyprus
wanted "to receive more substantial, constructive and positive
messages" from the other side in the process, foreign ministry
spokesman George Koumoutsakos told reporters afterwards.

He stressed that Greece "does not have this picture" at present,
adding that Bakoyannis repeated Greece's position regarding the
course and result of the process, which must be based on a bi-zonal,
bi-communal federation with a single international identity.

In statements after the meeting, Downer said the important thing was
to preserve the momentum of the process, adding that he had
underlined this point during his meeting on Friday with Bakoyannis
and during his talks in Ankara.

The envoy opposed the idea of setting a final deadline for the
talks, however.

"I don't think it wise, at this point, for the two leaders to set a
date when the negotiations will end," he told reporters.

Referring to the role of the United Nations, he said that "what
matters at the end is that the solution to the Cyprus issue must be
a solution for the people of Cyprus" and underlined that "I am
supporter of the idea of a Cypriot solution for the Cyprus
problem".

He declared himself cautiously optimistic that such a solution might
be found, while at the same time pointing out the great difficulties
involved in such a long-standing and complex problem as the Cyprus
issue.

Greek stocks fell yet lower on the Athens Stock Exchange on Friday,
closing 0.39 pct down at the end of the week's trading. The composite
index of the market ended at 1,731.63 points, with turnover a high
216.1 million euros, of which 36.3 million euros were block trades.